Need a better camera after hit and run

[mat200]

Coincidentally I'm in the middle of rewiring my attic, so it would be convenient to run an ethernet cable now before I get the camera. Once I put the plywood floor back down, it will be very difficult to access the cable. Is there anything in particular that I need in a cable? Is this one ok? Amazon.com

Hi @Valle

There's a lot of fraudulent cat7/6 thin cables on Amazon .. I highly recommend avoiding them in general.

I especially do not recommend any in wall / in attic runs with garbage cable ..

If you have doubts, perhaps running 3/4" PVC stubs to appropriate areas so you can run cables in the future?
or just look for some quality in-wall solid copper wire cat5e/6 cables.

As you are running new runs, and are new to this .. I'd recommend running either the 3/4" pcv stubs or N+2 cables to each location .. chances are you will want more than just one camera in one of the positions and cable is affordable compared to your time running the cable right now during the attic work.

 

[Valle]

Update:

I bought two of the HWF5241E-Z12E cameras, one NVR5208-8P-4KS2E NVR, cat5e cable, a 6Tb surveillance hard drive, and the necessary tools. I ran the cables and set up the NVR with the hard drive. I have one camera connected to the NVR through a short cable for testing purposes. I've figured out the live view and playback, but I can't figure out how to download video files. The interface is different from the Dahua Network Camera Web 3.0_OperationManual_V2.1.3.pdf that I've been reading. I'm attaching screenshots from the manual where download buttons are visible as well as from my NVR viewed through the browser where I can't find download buttons.

Additionally I'm uncertain as to what I need in terms of security. The NVR is plugged into my router and I'm accessing it through the LAN via my browser. I did not port forward. Is that secure, or do I need to do something else?

I'm having trouble searching for help in this forum. I'm sure the questions I'm asking have been answered before, but when I do a search it only looks within my post. So if I look for "HWF5241E-Z12E settings" it returns nothing, but if I search for " HWF5241E-Z12E" I get several results from this thread only. See screenshots.

Once I get the above issues figured out, I want to setup one camera for plates and the other for general surveillance. How do I access the camera settings and adjust them for reading plates? I don't need to have it automatically scan for plates, I just need to be able to read them manually during playback.

 

[wittaj]

Did you turn on P2P or is this strictly only accessible via LAN? If you scanned a QR code, then you probably turned on P2P, which means you can access it outside of LAN, but there is a chance others can as well.

To get into the camera GUI, you need to first access the NVR GUI by going to a computer and opening up a browser (preferably Internet Explorer but Pale Moon will work as well) and type in the IP address of the NVR and login that way. Next go into the camera settings page on the NVR and look for the Microsoft e Web Browser and select it and it will go to the camera GUI (photo credit bigredfish from his PSA thread). Your screen may look a little different to get into the camera gui and see if doing it this way gets you access to some other features the NVR is blocking - do not worry about the Port number and circle as that was from another issue someone posted.

Simply select the blue IE icon and it will go to the camera GUI and from there you can set the camera parameters.

The Z12E can only do manual read of the plates - it doesn't scan and log plates.

Here are two great threads full of the information you need to get the Z12E set up for plates:

LPR Case Study: Scoping, Planning, Proof of Concept, Installation, & Results

Introduction This thread is about my journey into LPR (License Plate Recognition) after having about 18 months of experience with IP cams and having quite a bit of my system finished. I am not an expert on LPR, or IP cameras either. But I have spent a lot of time working with my system and...

ipcamtalk.com

New to LPR? Considerations Before You Begin

Thought I would throw together a post on my experiences so far with LPR in an effort to help others that are considering running down that rabbit hole. There are some practical considerations you should know about LPR. I am approaching this from the position of using Blue Iris and Plate...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Valle]

Did you turn on P2P or is this strictly only accessible via LAN? If you scanned a QR code, then you probably turned on P2P, which means you can access it outside of LAN, but there is a chance others can as well.

I have already been logging into the NVR through the ip on my LAN, but it looks a little different than yours. There is a QR code in the NVR GUI that I scanned with my phone and I think it had me download an app, but I never bothered to set it up. Is there a way to see if P2P is enabled so that I can disable it?

I was able to find the web browser button and click it to access the camera, but instead I got a "This site can't be reached" error. See screenshot. Thanks, I'll read those threads that you linked.

 

[wittaj]

Maybe let's go back and factory reset try this thread to make sure nothing is whacked out:

***PSA for those with a New DAHUA NVR with Built-in PoE switch

IF you have a Dahua NVR with built-in PoE switch... DO NOT follow instructions telling you to use the config tool or switch the IP of your cameras or initialize anything..! With NVR's typically with a -P designation (Built-n PoE switch - example: 4208-8P-4KS2) none of that is required and it...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Valle]

I just switched from Chrome to IE and that fixed the logging into the camera issue. When I went into the camera it had a check box for P2P that I unchecked. Now I'm going to look around at the camera settings and see if I can figure out how to download footage.

 

[samplenhold]

Now I'm going to look around at the camera settings and see if I can figure out how to download footage.

Footage should be stored on the NVR. That is the purpose of the NVR. What do you mean by 'download footage'? Do you mean you want to download a chunk of recorded time in a specific format, like an MP4 or AVI file? If so, that would be done in the NVR. Hopefully @bigredfish or @Flintstone61 will chime in on NVR use as I think they both use NVRs.

Here are my settings for one of my 5241 Z12E LPR cams to help you get started.



Ignore the zoom and focus settings. You should set those up for your specific view. These are meant as starting values for you. Adjust as necessary to get the best video for your specific install.

 

[Valle]

Thanks! I figured out how to download footage from the NVR and I have the cameras mounted in their permanent positions. I'm just starting to mess with the settings for the plate camera so your screenshots will be helpful.

 

[Valle]

Any suggestions for what I should change to make the plates show up better at night? This was taken with your settings.

 

[samplenhold]

^ Is that shot the front or back of the car? How does it look through the whole view? Sometimes I have to advance one frame at a time until I get something that is useable.

It almost looks like focus?

 

[Valle]

That was the front of the car. I tried zooming in further and adjusting the focus and got this on the next car that passed. I flipped through frame by frame and this is the best one. It's not great, but it's readable.

 

[samplenhold]

^ That is not bad at all. It is hard to adjust the focus after dark unless you can park a car there or have someone stand there with a plate in hand.

 

[samplenhold]

So here are two from tonight. Both front plates and both at about the same point on the street. Boy are they different. Why? Probably the 'bad' one is dirty or more messed up than the good one.

 

[Valle]

That is quite a difference. I'm not sure I can make out the second one. I guess I'll leave it alone for now and fiddle with the focus some more during the day.